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Appendix C: Scan Team Members

Contact Information

Janice Weingart Brown
(FHWA Cochair)
Division Administrator
Federal Highway Administration
Texas Division
300 East 8th St., Suite 826
Austin, TX 78701
Telephone: (512) 536-5901
Fax: (512) 536-5990
E-mail: janice.brown@dot.gov

Robert Pieplow
(AASHTO Cochair)
Chief, Division of Engineering Services
California Department of Transportation
1801 30th St., MS 9-5/6JA
PO Box 168041
Sacramento, CA 95816-8041
Telephone: (916) 227-8800
Fax: (916) 227-8251
E-mail: bob_pieplow@dot.ca.gov

Dr. Michael J. Garvin
(Report Facilitator)
Associate Professor
Myers-Lawson School of Construction
Virginia Tech
310A Bishop-Favrao Hall
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0188
Telephone: (540) 808-9177
Alternate Administrative Office: (540) 231-3804
Fax: (540) 231-7339
E-mail: garvin@vt.edu

Roger L. Driskell
Bureau Chief, Engineer of Construction
Illinois Department of Transportation
2300 South Dirksen Parkway,
Room 322
Springfield, IL 62764
Telephone: (217) 782-6667
Fax: (217) 524-4922
E-mail: roger.driskell@illinois.gov

Stephen J. Gaj
Team Leader, System Management & Monitoring Team
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Asset Management,
HIAM-10, Room E75-330
1200 New Jersey Ave., SE
Washington, DC 20590
Telephone: (202) 366-1336
Fax: (202) 366-9981
E-mail: stephen.gaj@dot.gov

Dusty L. Holcombe
Assistant Director, Innovative Project Delivery
Virginia Department of Transportation
1401 East Broad St.
Richmond, VA 23219
Telephone: (804) 786-3173
Fax: (804) 786-7221
E-mail: dusty.holcombe@vdot.virginia.gov

Michael T. Saunders
Program Manager for Public-Private Partnerships
Federal Highway Administration
HOA-3, Room E84-306
1200 New Jersey Ave., SE
Washington, DC 20590
Telephone: (202) 366-4816
Fax: (202) 266-7499
E-mail: michael.saunders@dot.gov

J. Jeffrey Seiders, Jr.
Director, Materials and Pavements Section
Construction Division
Texas Department of Transportation
125 East 11th St.
Austin, TX 78701-2483
Telephone: (512) 506-5808
Fax: (512) 506-5812
E-mail: jseider@dot.state.tx.us

Arthur L. Smith
Chairman, National Council for
Public-Private Partnerships

President, Management Analysis Incorporated
2070 Chain Bridge Road, Suite 505
Vienna, VA 22182
Telephone: (703) 506-0505, ext. 205
E-mail: asmith@mainet.com


Biographic Information (at Time of Scanning Study)

Janice (Jan) Weingart Brown (FHWA cochair) is the division administrator for the Texas Division of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). As a key member of the agency's leadership team, Brown provides executive management expertise in the oversight and stewardship of the federally funded highway program in Texas. She directs operations of the Texas Division, which provides technical and program assistance to Texas for improvements to the State's transportation network, including the border connections that support increased international movement of freight between the United States and Mexico. She provides assistance in the use of public-private partnerships to help fund needed transportation improvements. Before becoming Texas Division administrator, Brown served for 11 years as FHWA's Montana Division administrator. Before that, she served as assistant division administrator in the Nevada Division and district engineer in Washington State. Brown earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Connecticut and a master's degree in transportation policy, operations, and logistics from George Mason University in Virginia. She is a licensed professional engineer in Washington State.

Robert (Bob) Pieplow (AASHTO cochair) is an engineering manager for the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in Sacramento, CA. Pieplow is the division chief for the Division of Engineering Services (DES). DES is a division of 2,000 employees and performs a variety of engineering services, including geotechnical investigations, structures design, earthquake engineering, materials engineering and testing, and construction management, and advertises and awards more than $2.5 billion in construction contracts each year. Before his current assignment, Pieplow served as the chief of the Division of Construction for Caltrans, overseeing the policy and direction of a construction program with 600 active construction contracts valued at more than $10.5 billion. Projects included the east span replacement of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which features a signature self-anchored suspension span. During his tenure in construction, he led the development and implementation of several innovative construction contract provisions, including A+B bidding, flexible beginning of work, time-related overhead bid item, and alternative dispute resolution processes. In addition, Pieplow worked with the insurance and construction industries to reduce insurance and bonding barriers for small businesses and implement an owner-controlled insurance program (OCIP). Pieplow is a graduate of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He is a licensed professional engineer in California.

Dr. Michael J. Garvin (report facilitator) is an associate professor in the Myers-Lawson School of Construction at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). His research and education pursuits are geared toward improving how institutional owners—such as departments of transportation, universities, and Federal agencies—program, finance, and deliver projects. His current research projects are developing decision support systems for portfolio-level investment decisions, improving risk mitigation strategies for infrastructure projects in which private finance is at risk, and identifying best practices for public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements through case-based research. Garvin is a 2004 recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), which is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. He also recently completed service on the National Research Council's Committee for Core Competencies for Federal Facilities Asset Management, is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers' (ASCE) Construction Research Council and Infrastructure Systems Committee, is on the editorial board of the journal Public Works Management & Policy, and is a specialty editor for the case studies division of the ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. He has authored or coauthored more than 30 journal articles, conference papers, and book chapters. His professional experience includes military service as an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (1989 to 1993), practice as a consulting civil engineer (1995 to 1998), and faculty positions at both Columbia University (2001 to 2005) and Virginia Tech (2005 to present). He received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the United States Military Academy in 1989, a master's degree in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1995, and a Ph.D. in construction engineering and management from MIT in 2001.

Roger L. Driskell is the engineer of construction for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) in Springfield, IL. Driskell oversees the development of construction policies, engineering and documentation reviews, prequalification of contractors, contractor pay estimates, and construction change authorizations for the department's nearly $2 billion annual construction program. In addition, he has been IDOT's lead in review and investigation of alternative contracting methods, including public-private partnerships and design-build. Driskell has been with IDOT 23 years, working primarily in construction as a resident engineer and supervising field engineer and in design as a squad leader, project engineer, and policy engineer responsible for the department's design manual, specifications, and standards. Driskell graduated from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville with a bachelor's degree in engineering. He is a licensed professional engineer in Illinois and serves on the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' Subcommittee on Construction, chairing the Environmental and Human Resources Section.

Stephen J. Gaj is leader of the System Management and Monitoring Team of the FHWA Office of Asset Management in Washington, DC. He is responsible for promoting asset management, a strategic approach to managing transportation infrastructure, which includes better decisionmaking based on quality information. Asset management encourages the integration of traditional engineering applications and management systems and the use of economic analysis tools to monitor and analyze the performance of highway assets. This work includes refining and advancing the application of pavement, bridge, roadway safety hardware, and other management systems. Gaj has been with FHWA since 1981. He previously worked in FHWA's Office of International Programs, Construction and Maintenance Division, and Maryland and Michigan Divisions, as well as on several assignments in FHWA's Highway Engineer Training Program. He has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Massachusetts–Dartmouth and a master's degree in civil engineering from Clemson University.

Dusty L. Holcombe is assistant director of the Innovative Project Delivery Division for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in Richmond, VA. Holcombe administers VDOT's Public-Private Transportation Program, which is responsible for the procurement, negotiation, and execution of publicprivate partnership agreements for transportation facilities. His duties involve developing policies, contractual documents, and procedures that create a competitive procurement environment and allow for the execution of agreements with the private sector. Before joining VDOT, Holcombe worked in the private sector for Sverdrup Civil, an international professional engineering firm. Holcombe is a graduate of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and holds a master's degree in urban and environmental planning from the University of Virginia. He is a member of the American Society of Highway Engineers and has spoken at several public-private partnership seminars and conferences.

Michael T. Saunders is FHWA's program manager for public-private partnerships (PPP). As such, he provides technical assistance on the Federal requirements associated with PPPs and coordinates the review of PPPs for FHWA. Saunders has worked in transportation for more than 25 years. His positions include assignments with FHWA in transportation planning and project development, as a program administrator with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, as deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Transportation, and as manager of the Federal Railroad Administration's Northeast Corridor Program Office. He is a graduate of Trinity College and has master's degrees in urban and environmental planning from the University of Virginia and in civil engineering from Michigan State University.

J. Jeffrey Seiders is the director of the Materials and Pavements Section of the Construction Division for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) in Austin, TX. Seiders oversees and manages departmental material specifications (including structural steel and precast/ prestressed products) and test procedures (including quality assurance programs and testing activities for construction and maintenance). Seiders received a bachelor's degree in architectural engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1980. He joined the engineering staff of Trinity Engineering Testing Corp., where his responsibilities included construction materials testing, structural investigations, and project oversight for foundation construction. In 1984, he joined Porter-Donoghue Consulting Engineering (PDCE), where he performed the structural design and construction administration for several projects ranging from low- to medium-rise buildings. In 1987, he began his career with the TxDOT Materials and Tests Division. His responsibilities progressed from staff engineering functions to Structural Section manager. Seiders has served as a leader for several departmental task forces and committees and is a registered professional engineer in Texas.

Arthur (Art) L. Smith is chair of the U.S. National Council for Public-Private Partnerships. He is also U.S. representative to and vice chair of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe's (UNECE) Team of Specialists on Public-Private Partnerships. Smith serves as a consultant and lecturer on PPPs for organizations such as the United Nations Development Program, UNECE, Asian Development Bank, International Law Institute, and national governments. He was a primary author of the UNECE publication Governance in Public- Private Partnerships for Infrastructure. Smith provided analysis in support of the Czech government's voucher privatization program and managed a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development to identify the costs of potable water in Albania. He has PPP experience on five continents and is the author of more than 30 articles on public-private partnerships, published in six languages. Smith has served with the consulting firm of Management Analysis, Inc., since 1977 and has been president since 1995. Smith holds a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in technology management from the University of Maryland.

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Page last modified on November 7, 2014
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